Flexible water heater



F. F. FORSHEE.

FLEXIBLE WATER HEATER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11. 1920.

Patented Feb. 14, 1922.

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F. F. FORSHEE.

FLEXIBLE WATER HEATER.

APPLICATION man JUNE 11. 1920.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK F. FORSHEE, OF FLINT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIOPRODUCTS COMPANY, A. CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

FLEXIBLE WATER HEATER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 14., 1922.

Application filed June 17, 1920. Serial No..389,610.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK F. FoRsHEE, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Flint, in the county of Genesee and State of Michigan,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Flexible \Vater Heaters,of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to electrically-heated apparatus and particularlyto fluid heaters, and it has, for one of its objects, to provide arefractory resistor-supporting means which may be easily molded andshall embody means for so supporting the resistor that a relativelylarge proportion of the heat may be radiated directly against. thesurface of the fluid container.

Another object of my invention is to provide an articulated fluid heaterwhich may be mounted in heat-radiating relation on the surface of afluid container.

Another object of my invention is to provide improved means for holdinga heater of the character above designated in any clesired location upona fluid container.

More specifically, my invention embodies a plurality of refractoryparallel-extending supporting members substantially rectangular incross-section, each member having a longitudinally-extending slot,substantially triangular in cross-section, in one face thereof and aresistor-supporting chamber, substantially circular in cross-section,below said slot and connected thereto.

, A substantially semi-cylindrical longitudinally-extending groove isprovided in each of the lateral faces of the supporting members forco-operation with a rod and metailink members to hold a number ofsupporting members in side-by-side spaced relation.

The lateral faces of each refractory member are bevelled away from thegroove to slightly reduce the width at the inner and outer faces topermit the refractory members to have a small turning movement relativeto each other and thus permit an assem bled group of supporting membersto conform to the contour of the surface of a container upon which theheater may be mounted. Means are provided to permitof secur- Flg. 4 is atop plan view of one of the link members.

Fig. 5 is a view, in side elevation, of a device embodying my inventionas mounted on an ordinary water tank;

Fig. 6 is a view, in plan, of the apparatus shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a view, in plan, of several supporting members mounted on acontainer of rectangular contour and Fig. 8 is a View, in sideelevation, of the device shown in Fig. 7.

Referring particularly-to Figs. 1 and 2, the device comprises aplurality of refractory supporting members 1 substantially square incross-section and located in sideby-side relation by means to behereinafter set forth.

Each of the supporting members 1 comprises an outer part 2 and anintegral inner part 3, the part 3 being somewhat shorter than the part2. The inner face of the member 1 is provided with a substantiallytriangular longitudinally -extending groove 4. and a resistor-supportingchamber 5 is located in the part- 2 below the groove 4 and in connectiontherewith.

The chamber 5 is substantially cylindrical, and the side walls 6 and 7of the groove 4 are substantially radial to the center of the chamber 5and are so located as to make an angle of 90 with each other. Thisconstruction results in the width of the groove 4 at the bottom thereofbeing less than the diameter of the chamber 5. v

A longitudinally-extending, substantially semi-cylindrical groove 8 isprovided in each of the lateral faces of the )art 2 and located atsubstantially the midd e of the width of each face.

The lateral faces of the member 1 are not equidistant throughout thethickness thereof but slope toward each other at the outer and the innerfaces of the member 1, as shown in Fig; 3.

Any desired number of refractory supporting members 1 may be assembledin parallel-spaced relation by laying them upon a plane surfacesubstantially inthe position shown in Fig. 1. The semi-cylindricalgrooves 8 in two adjacent members 1 will then form a substantiallycylindrical groove in which is placed a metal rod 9 which is slightlylonger than the members 1 and is provided with threaded ends.

Link members 10, each of which'is provided with two substantiallycircular openings 11 near the ends thereof, may then be placed so thatthe openings 11 will fit around the rods 9, and the link members 10 are,arranged to overlap, as shown in Fig. 1. The distance between theopenings 11 in thelink members 10 is substantially equal to the distancebetween the centers of the semi-cylindrical grooves 8 in the members 1.

After the link members 10. have been placed over the rods 9 at each endof the members 1, nuts 12 may be placed upon the threaded ends of therods 9 to hold the link members in place. .If desired, the ends of therods 9 may be flattened very slightly to preclude the nuts 12 workingoff the ends of the rods.

The group of supporting members 1, together with the rods and linkmembers assembled, as described above, may now be handled as a unit andit will be noted that each member 1 now has a limited turning movementrelative to the adjacent members 1 on each side thereof, thus providing,in effect, an articulated resistor-supporting means comprising a numberof relatively small refractory members.

The heating element comprises a helicallywound resistor 13, the outsidediameter of the heating element being somewhat smaller than the diameterof the resistor-supporting chamber 5. i

Tomount the resistor in the supporting members, it is only necessary tothread the helix through the chamber 5 from one supporting member to theadjacent one until the entire length of the resistor has been placed inthe resistor-supportin chambers 5 and therebetween at the ends 0% thepart 3 between adjacent members 1.

Each of the end supporting members 1 of a group may be provided with aterminal member 14 to the inside end of which the respective ends of theheating element 13 may be suitably connected.

A metal member 15 may be suitably secured to the end rods 9 and beprovided with ber 17, (see Fig. 6) may be used in co-operation with thehooks 16 to hold the completed heater against the surface of a fluidcontainer, as shown in plan view in Fig. 6.

A heat-insulating covering 18 may be applied. over the outside and theends of the complete heater in order to cut down the radiation of heataway from the heater.

The slope of the lateral faces of the supporting members 1, as shown inFig. 3, is

sufficient to permit of mounting a group of tion with a container havingsubstantially rectangular corners, as shown in Fig. 7. In

adjacent the corners are the ones which are provided with terminalmembers 14, ,and a suitable flexible connecting lead 19 may be employedto conduct the current from one terminal member to the other. It may benoted that one of the supporting members 1 has been omitted but that thelink members 10 may be used at the corner exactly as though thesupporting member 1 had not been omitted.

If desired, the resistor 13 may be divided intosubstantially equalparts, and a standard control switch 20,may be used to permit theseparate parts to be cohnected in'series or in parallel.

It may be noted that the device embodying my invention provides anarticulated resistor-supporting means made up of a number of moldedrefractory members and that this device permits of mounting the completeheating element upon a container having either a circular or arectangular contour or even of irregular contour.

The arrangement of groove 4 and chamber 5 in the part 3 of each of thesupporting members 1 permits of holding the resistor 13 at a relativelysmall distance from the surface of the fluid container .and also insuresthat the resistor will be held firmly and prevented from coming incontact with the container which might-result in a short-circuit or agrounded circuit.

As it is the intention to operate the resistor at a relatively hightemperature, most of the heat will be tran mitted to the fluid containerby radiation and the relative proportions of the chamber 5 and thegroove 4 have been selected with a view to permitting as large aportionof the surface of the resistor 13 to radiate its heat directlyagainst the container as is possible. I am. aware a number of deviceshave been patented which show a resistor-supporting chamber this case,the supporting members 1 used v somewhat similar to the one shown anddescribed in this application but in none of these is there apossibility of as great a di rect radiation of heat as in the one I haveshown and described.

While I have shown a specific embodiment of my invention, I desire thatonly such limitations shall be placed thereon as are imposed by the.prior art or are specificallyset forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. An electric heater comprising a plurality of refractory supportingmembers, each member having a resistor chamber in one face thereof, aresistor wire located in said chamber, and means for holding saidsupporting members in parallel-spaced relation.

2. An electric heater comprising a plurality of refractory supportingmembers each member having a resistor chamber in one face thereof, aresistor located in said chamber and means for holding said supportingmembers in parallel-spaced relation, said holding means permitting aslight turning movement of said members relative to each other.

3. An electric heater comprising a plurality of elongated refractorymembers each having a longitudinally-extending resistor chamber in oneface thereof, a continuous resistor wire located in said resistorchambers and extending therebetween at alternate ends of said members,terminal members mounted on two of said refractory members and means forholding said refractory members in parallel-spaced relation.

4. An electric heater comprising a plurality of elongated refractoryresistor-supporting members, each member having a substantiallyrectangular cross-section and having a longitudinally-extending resistorchamber of lesser length than said member in one face thereof, acontinuous resistor wire located in said chambers, means for holdingsaid supporting members in parallel-spaced relation, and terminalmembers mounted upon two of said refractory membars.

5. An electric heater comprising a heating element, a plurality ofrefractory supporting members for said heating element assembled inparallel-spaced relation, and means for holding said supporting membersin said relation and for permitting them to have a limited movement withrelation to each other.

6. An electric heater comprising a continuous heating element, aplurality of refractory supporting members for said heating member ofsubstantially rectangular cross-section and located in parallel-spacedrelation, each of said supporting members havin alongitudinally-extending chamber in WhlCh the heating element is locatedand an open slot communicating with said chamt v -l ber and narrower atits bottom than said chamber and having widely diverging sides, andmeans for holding said supporting members in said parallel-spacedrelation and for permitting them to have a limited movement withrelation to each other.

7. A flexible electric heater comprising a plurality of refractoryparallel-extending members of substantially rectangular crosssection,each member having an embodying resistor-supporting chamber of lesserlength than said member on its inner face, a continuous resistor locatedin said chambers and means for holding said refractory members inoperative relation to each other, said holding means permittingsaidmembers to have a limited movement with relation toeach other.

8. In an electric heater, the combination with a plurality of elongatedrefractory supporting members of substantially rectangularcross-section, each member having a longitudinal groove in each of twoopposite faces and a resistor-supporting groove in another of its faces,a continuous heating element located in said resistor-supporting groove,rods operatively engaging said longitudinal grooves and links engagisaid rods, said rods and links co-operating to hold said supportingmembers in spaced relation and to permit them to have a limited movementwith relation to each other.

9. An electric heater comprising a plurality of refractory supportingmembers each member having a resistor-supporting chamber in its innerface, a continuous resistor wire-located in said chambers, means forholding said supporting members in spaced relation and for permittingthem to have a limited movement with relation to each other, and meansfor holding said .set of supporting members against the surface of acontainer.

10. An articulated electric heater comprising a plurality of .elongatedrefractory supporting members substantially rectangular incross-section, each member having a longitudinally-extending resistorchamber in the inner face and a longitudinally-extending groove in eachof the lateral faces, a continuous resistor wire located in saidresistor chambers, rods located in the grooves of adjacent supportingmembers and extending beyond the ends thereof, overlapping links securedto the ends of said rods, said rods and links holding said supportingmembers in longitudinal and in lateral spaced relation and permittingthem to have a limited turning movement on said rods with relation toeach other and means for holding said set of supportipg members againstthe surface of a container.

11. An electric heater comprising a continuous resistor, a plurality ofrefractory supporting members for, said resistor of substantiallyrectangular cross-section, each of said supportin members having alongitudinally exten ing resistor supporting chamber in one face thereofand an open slot communicating with said chamber and narrower at itsbottom than said chamber and having sides which are located at an angleof substantiall 90 with each other, and means for holdin said supportingmembers in parallel-space relation and for permitting them to have alimited turning movement with relation to each other. 12. An electricheater comprising, a continuous resistor, a plurality of refractorysupporting members for said resistor of substantially rectangularcross-section, each of said supporting members having a longitudinallyextending resistor supporting chamber substantiall circular incross-section in one face thereo and an open slot communicating withsaid chamber and narrower at its bottom than said chamber and havingside walls which are substantially radial to the center of said chamberand at an angle of 90 to each other, means for holding said supportingmembers in parallel-spaced relation and for permitting them to have alimited turning movement relative to each other and means for holdingsaid set of supporting members against the surface of a container.

13. An electric heater comprising a re- .sistor, a plurality ofrefractory resistor-supporting members, said members having a limitedturning'movement relative to each other,.and means for holding saidmembers in longitudinal parallel-spaced relation and for permitting saidmembers to conform to the contour of the surface of a container.

14. In an electrical fluid-heater, the combination with a container forsaid fluid, of a resistor, a plurality of parallel-extending refractoryresistor-supporting members having a limited turning movement relativeto each other, means for holding said members in parallel-spacedrelation and for permitting them to be mounted on and to conform FRANKF. FORSHEE.

